There are a few sources you can add to the package manager of Mandrake to get extra software.
Some of them everybody can add, a few ( last two ) are only for Club Members.

See here how it's done:

Bruno, on Tips, said:

Go to a console, log in as 'su' and paste the line after the prompt and hit enter.
Now it should work and get the list . . . be patient, it takes a while.
Then as you get the prompt back, close the console ( Ctrl+d , 2x ).

Now that we have added the source to your software manager, we can have a look at all the packages:

Go to the MCC --> Software Management --> 'RpmDrake helps you install software packages' ( the icon with the + ). Now you will see the text : 'All packages' under the search-box., 'All packages' 'by group' change the by group in: 'by medium repository' and you will get a list with the sources you can choose from: CD1, CD2, CD3 and also the Update source and the just added source. Click in the little triangle in front of the new source, and a list will fold out with all the packages you can choose from . . . . FUN, MAGIC, BLISS !

Here they are: ( Don't click on the links but paste them in a root-console ) YOU HAVE TO BE ON LINE !

This should give you the md5sum after a minute. Check it with the original and then you're sure the CD is 100% perfect.

Bruno

NOTE: For more information on CDWriting, see the following comprehensive article by Steve Litt here which includes other sniplets of code like the one above and some very interesting concepts: Coasterless CD burning by Steve Litt

NOTE: This section should have been placed earlier, it is actually the intro to the Tips about Bash History, Bash Script and many other Tips on the commandline.

BASH

There are several shells available in Linux, the default shell is the Bourne Again SHell ---a pun on the name of Steve Bourne, who was author of the traditional Unix shell, the Bourne shell.
A shell is a program that takes commands from the user and passes them on to the kernel for processing.
Like all the other shells in Linux, the Bash shell is not only a great tool for the command line, but also a scripting language.
Shell scripting allows you to automate tasks that in a normal way would need typing in a lot of commands.
FYI: Some other shells are: the C shell, or Korn shell (the default on IBM's AIX operating system); the ASH shell ( ash is useful for testing scripts to be sh-compliant ), the TCSH shell ( completely compatible version of the Berkeley Unix C shell ) and the new ZSH shell ( ZSH most closely resembles KSH but includes many enhancements ).

As you open a terminal/console you actually open a shell and you are presented with a bash prompt. A Bash prompt typically ends with a $ to show you're logged in as a normal user ( Only in SuSE it ends with > for the user ). A Bash prompt ending with # shows that we are logged in as root ( Same in SuSE this time ).

There are people that like Lilo and there are people that like the Grub bootloader. I have written many Tips about Lilo, so here is to balance out the information: "all you always wanted to know about Grub".

To restore Grub to the MBR:

$ su
< password >
# grub-install /dev/hda

To setup Grub or add new entries:
Note:

Quote

Grub uses its own naming structure for drives and partitions, in the form of (hdn,m), where n is the hard drive number, and m the partition number, both starting from zero. This means, for instance, that partition hda1 is (hd0,0) to Grub, and hdb2 is (hd1,1). Grub doesn't consider CD-ROM drives to be hard drives, so if you have a CD on hdb, for example, and a second hard drive on hdc, that second hard drive would still be (hd1).

Also:

Quote

Note that GRUB does _not_ distinguish IDE from SCSI - it simply counts the drive numbers from zero, regardless of their type. Normally, any IDE drive number is less than any SCSI drive number, although that is not true if you change the boot sequence by swapping IDE and SCSI drives in your BIOS.

Setup Grub:

# grub

First, tell Grub where to find the 'stage files' -- you can use Tab to show the alternatives: ( in this example hda4 )

root (hd0,3)

Now tell Grub to install into the MBR of hda:

setup (hd0)

And close with:

quit

Make or adapt the menu.lst: ( And new entries )

# vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

Quote

# Begin /boot/grub/menu.lst

# By default boot the first menu entry.default 0

# Allow 30 seconds before booting the default.timeout 30

# Use prettier colors.color green/black light-green/black

# The first entry is for Linux.title Linuxroot (hd0,3)kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda4 ro

# If you want, a second entry for RedHattitle RedHatroot (hd0,2)kernel /boot/kernel-2.4.20 root=/dev/hda3 roinitrd /boot/initrd-2.4.20

# You wish to include Windows ?title Windowsrootnoverify (hd0,0)chainloader +1

Emergency

If things go really wrong and you get only a grub prompt you can still boot:

If you have Mandrake, PCLos, SuSE, Ubuntu, Debian or Slackware . . First read the notes for the automatic x setup tools at the end of this post !

In case of pure disaster you can lose your X, and mess up your X-Config file. This tells you how to fix that.In the case of a failing X you get thrown back to the prompt in a text console in runlevel 3, just to check that do:

6). Update after install . . . 100 - 200 MB ( already !Drakx, Harddrale, KDEbase, Gnomelibs Mplayer and many more) Don´t do all the updates at once, take groups of 4 - 6 at a time and give the process time to finish before closing the MCC ! ( Most US and French mirrors are useless, so pick a update mirror from the Netherlands or Germany)

7). After the Install, get more programs in the MCC, the default install, even with all the packages is pretty minimal, there is plenty more on the CD´s you can install with the normal "add software" in the MCC ! ( Don´t forget to run the updates again after installing the new programmes )8). Install anacron !!!! ( See Cron and Anacron )

WARNING: After updating/adding software: do not open the menu for 60 seconds . . it has to be written to cache ( Related to menu problem mentioned above )

Have FUN !!

E). Additional info about making a boot CD to replace the boot-floppy: Look here

With the "chroot" command you can log in as root in another distro located on a different partition so you can give commands as root, as if you were actually booted in that other distro.
This is handy for repair jobs, but also for example if your MBR is messed up and you only have a Live CD you can boot from.
In this example we want to restore Mandrake's lilo to the MBR and Mandrake is on hda7. We boot from the Live CD ( or any other distro on the same computer ) and issue the following commands:

First we make sure we are root:

$ su
< password >

Then we mount the Mandrake partition:

# mount /dev/hda7 /mnt/hda7

( this assuming that /mnt/hda7 does exist, if not we have to do "mkdir /mnt/hda7" first )

NOTE: Installing the nVidia drivers is no easy task for novices. At least you will need to be comfortable with the commandline and the Vi-editor ( see Vi revisited because all is done in text mode and you have no GUI while doing this. )

What it does not say here in these instructions is that you have to be in runlevel 3 to install the drivers . . . . . :
The safest way to do this is to change your /etc/inittab file:

$ su
< password >
# kedit /etc/inittab

Change the line: "id:5:initdefault:" in "id:3:initdefault:" and save the file

# reboot

Quote

2) Type "root" to get root access, cd to the directory where you downloaded the file and type the following:# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5328-pkg1.run ( adapt package number to the one you downloaded )

3) You'll be greeted with the license which asks you to accept or deny it.

4) If you had previous GLX drivers and kernel modules installed, such as the RPMs, you will be prompted to remove them.

5) Next, the utility will check for and return with either a module if your kernel is supported or a statement that you will need to build a module if your kernel is not supported.

6) When you select OK, the utility will either download and install the pre-compiled module or download and compile a module then proceed to install the rest of the driver package.You should receive a message proclaiming the installation was a success. Proceed to the section below before restarting X or rebooting.

7) Open your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file with the Vi text editor ( one of the few that works in text mode):

# vi /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

NOTE: when using Xorg the file is /etc/X11/xorg.conf

< i > ( put vi in insert mode )

Quote

Under section "Module" there should be a:
Load "glx"

If you have these lines, nVidia advises you to remove them:

Load "dri"Load "GLcore"

Now scroll down to the 'Graphics device section' ( or sometimes just named 'Device' ). Instead of the default XFree driver:Driver "nv"Change to:
Driver "nvidia"

Make the above changes, save the file:
< Esc >
< ZZ >

And start the X server with:

# startx

( to test if it works )

NOTE 1:
In the "module" section it is sometimes better to replace

Load "glx"

With:

Load "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.so"

Anyway that is the way I always set it up in Mandrake.

NOTE 2:
If all works well you can change the /etc/inittab file back to "id:5:initdefault:" and reboot.

NOTE 3: ( Alternative for the "id:3:initdefault:" part )If you know what you're doing you can also exit X and go to text mode with:Press "Ctrl+Alt+F2", then log-in as "root" and type "init 3", then again you have to login as root.

When ready type "init 5" to get back to runlevel 5.

Additional info: nVidia README( You might want to print this out because once you are in text mode it will be hard to browse to the site and read it. Contains an extensive FAQ. )

Some people are obsessed with time, they assure you that every second counts. . . . I have strong doubts about that, and even would like to defend the theory that time is mankind's worst invention . . . . . but, if you absolutely want to update your clock to the correct atomic clock time:

$ su
< password >
# rdate -s clock-1.cs.cmu.edu && hwclock --systohc

The first part updates your system time, the second part ( after the && ) updates the BIOS clock, so if you only want your system time updated leave the "&& hwclock --systohc" off.

For the real time fanatics we can even automate the process . . . ( well isn't that what computers are for ? )

You can add the line above at the end of /etc/rc.d/rc.local to make it update every time you boot. Of course you need a broadband connection that is started during boot for it to be effective.

CDRECORD( NOTE: for the new 2.6 kernel, see the remark in the PS at the end !! ) CDrecord is the default commandline cd burning tool in Linux . . . simple and effective ;)For burning ISO's it's pretty straightforward:

cdrecord dev=0,0,0 distro.iso

But if you want to burn files and directories to CD it requires a bit more: first we will have to use the "mkisofs" command to make an iso of the files.If you want to use the CD in linux, the following arguments are recommended:

mkisofs -R -r -v -o filename.iso file1 file2 file2 dir1 dir2

-R is for Rock Ridge extensions-r is to preserve the UID/GID info-v is more output so you can see what is going on-o is to set the name of the outputfile ( filename.iso )After making the ISO you can check the content of the ISO with:

isoinfo -f -R -i filename.iso

Now we can burn the ISO to CD, first we have to know the "dev=" numbers:

And in this case it will show you the numbers are 0,0,0Now we can burn:

cdrecord -v dev=0,0,0 filename.iso

Or we can give a few extra arguments:

cdrecord -v -multi -eject speed=16 dev=0,0,0 filename.iso

This will allow a multisession disk that will be ejected after burning at speed x16Sure, I know, this all seems complicated, and K3b ( the GUI front-end for cdrecord ) looks simpler to use . . . but once you have learned to do it this way you will see that the commandline is better and puts all your computer power in the burning and not in the fancy GUI ;)More about CD and DVD commandline burning, read Here BrunoPS: NOTE: For the new 2.6 kernel things have changed for CDrecord . . no more "--scanbus" but now we do "dmesg | grep CD" to determine the device:In Mandrake 10, and probably soon in other distro's with the 2.6 kernel, first do

SLACKWARE TIPS ( 2 )Making poweroff and reboot buttonsIn Slackware when we want to power-off we need to give the command "shutdown -h now" as root in a terminal. ( Because there is no entry for shutdown in the menu )We can make a power-off button, but it needs some work, here is how to do that:We need to edit the sudoers file, as root, with vi ( study the Vi editor before you do this, see notes below ! ). . There is a special command to open the sudoers file in vi though . . NOT "vi sudoes", but:

# visudo

This will open the file in vi . . so press "i" to put vi in insert mode an paste the next line at the end of the file: ( you need to do this for every user you will allow to reboot and halt )

bruno ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/shutdown -h now, /sbin/reboot

Then save and close the file: <Esc> <ZZ> We now gave "bruno" sudo permission to give the commands "sudo /sbin/reboot" and "sudo /sbin/halt" and we can meke special buttons on the tastbar: Rightclick on the taskbar and choose "Add" --> "Special Button" --> "Non-KDE application" . . you will get a little GUI where you can put in the top box ( Executable ):

sudo /sbin/reboot

. . . and press on the icon to change the icon to the one you like . . then press OK and you are ready . . . Do the same for

sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now

And every user you did add in the sudoers file will be able to press the buttons and reboot or halt the system.That should do the trick. Have FUN BrunoNOTE: More about editing with Vi: Vi ( Revisited ) Tip

CUPSCUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) can be used instead of the default LPR printing system. And there is a good chance if your printer does not work with LPR it will with CUPS.In a post from Striker we found a good way to set it up:

Striker, on forum, said:

If you use CUPS,you must make sure the lpd service is stopped and the cups service is started:If I remember well, I had to be root for this :/sbin/service lpd stop/sbin/service cups startAlso if there's a services configuration tool in Slack, use it to configure your system to start the cups service automatically (and disable the lpd service if it is running).After the cups daemon is started, open a web browser and connect to the cups server:http://localhost:631 Then you have to add the printer in the Cups Configuration Interface.When you did get that far, it's probably working, so we go on: to add a printer, click Manage Printers and then the Add Printer button.It'll ask for username and a password. I did have to use root as the username and my rootpassword .

NOTE: If you see your printer in the cups drivers list, but not the exact version number of the printer, you could try a few other versions at random, and most of the time you will be able to find a version number that will use the same drivers. This is not ideal and the quality may not be 100% but at least you will be able to print. ;)Now, once you have set up CUPS you will notice it will print in KDE programs, but not in OpenOffice . . . Here is a trick you can try, type in a console:

/usr/lib/openoffice/program/spadmin

( Check the path because this is the one for Mandrake 9.2 . . . . "/openoffice/program/spadmin" is the fixed part you can "locate" )You will get a dialog where the generic printer is preselected . . . . click on properties . . . you will see that the command is "lpr" . . . . . replace that with "kprinter -stdin" . . . . and save.Why ? Koffice and KDE are just configured to use CUPS and not "lpr" . . :)NOTE: You might have to clear the printer lpr queue first, delete the old jobs that are not finished and still blocking the process ( even after a reboot ):

APROPOSBecause Linux knows so many commands you can impossibly remember them all, that is why there are a few tricks available to help you.We already know from previous tips that if you type the first few characters of a command and press the <tab> key, it will autocomplete the command or give a list of options.Also we had the whatis command a few tips ago this showed a line of text explaining what a command was for.Here is another clever command: "apropos". Imagine you know only a part of the name or description of a command, let's take an example like "alsa"

Homepage: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/IMPORTANT: Make sure you get the "normal" version of the UltimateBootCD and not the WindowsUBCD ( with Bart's PE ). Downloading from one of the sites listed on http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ ( in ISO format ) will asure you that you have the correct version. Bruno

SWARET ( For Slackware )Swaret is magical and an easy script designed to help keep your Slackware System up-to-date.It downloads, upgrades and installs packages, patches, sources and much more! Swaret includes dependency support, as well as it tracks and fixes missing libraries.There is no better tool to keep your Slackware up to date and sane.Get the latest Swaret: http://swaret.source...e.net/index.php OR The 1.6.2-noarch-1.tgz is here By mistake the file on the mirror is named swaret-1.6.2-noarch-1.tgz.tar so we have to rename the file in order to remove the last part ( .tar ):

# mv swaret-1.6.2-noarch-1.tgz.tar swaret-1.6.2-noarch-1.tgz

Next you can install it:

# installpkg swaret-1.6.1-noarch-3.tgz

( Adapt version number with the one you downloaded ) Configure it:

# cp /etc/swaret.conf.new /etc/swaret.conf

Edit the /etc/swaret.conf file, first set the version:

swaret.conf, on file, said:

# NOTE: If you want to use Slackware Linux Current,# set VERSION to 'current' (VERSION=current).#VERSION=??.? <---------------------------------------------- Put the version you use here !

NOTE: Switching to current is experimental and is not advised for new users.( Attention dial-up users, upgrading to “current” will download more then 800 MB packages. So my advice is keep the version you downloaded/installed. )And next: "EXCLUDE=alsa"

# Network Settings # # Network Interface # Use this if you have a Network Interface. # NIC=ppp0 <--------------------------------------------------------------------- Here## Local Interface # Use this if you do not have a Network Interface. #

FILESYSTEMCHECK 2 ( fsck )Here is one command of the previous Tip I would like to elaborate: fsckIf you have a corrupt file system ( Ext2/3 ) and you have to do a manual check and repair on it in "single user mode", here are 4 ways how to do it:1). If you are booting from Mandrake's Lilo the story is simple: choose option "failsafe" from the menu, this will boot you automatically, without any hassle, in "single user mode" ( you get an odd looking prompt like "sh-2.05b#" ) and you can do:

# fsck /dev/hdb1

( replace hdb1 with the partition you want to run the check on )2). Other graphical Lilos allow you to do Ctrl+X to get a prompt where you type:

linux single

it will than also boot in "single user mode"3). Another option is to flip in any Linux CD ( Live or install ) and at the prompt type

linux single

( For knoppix it is "knoppix single" )4). Now, in case you did already boot, but the boot failed half way before getting to X, and you are thrown back at the text screen with a prompt. Here is how to do it if you are in runlevel 3:Put it in "single user mode", ( back to runlevel 1 ):

# init 1

Then remount / in read only mode:

# mount -o remount,ro /# fsck /dev/hdb1

( replace hdb1 with the partition you want to run the check on ) Most of the times the -a, -A and -P options are not recommended, see "man fsck"Then remount / in readwrite mode:

# mount -o remount,rw /

Last step, back to where you came from:

# init 3

The chances are that your file system will be fixed, but there is no guarantee.The chance that you will have to do this are much slimmer on an Ext3 file system then on Ext2. So there is one more reason you always choose an Ext3 format BrunoPS: Here is how to do it with Grub

FDISK ( Partition table manipulator for Linux )Here is another command from the list "File System Commands". With fdisk we can get info on partitions and make new ones or delete them.I took the info from a post made by Owyn.Info about partitions:

# fdisk -l /dev/hda

Deleting partitions:

$ su# fdisk /dev/hda

1)List the partitions and make sure you are on hdaPress "p"2)Delete all the existing partitions on hda starting with partition 4 and working back to partition 1Press "d"Enter partition number when requested.3)List the partitions again to make sure the problem is fixed.Press "p"4)Write table to disk and exitPress "w"And then run "fdisk -l /dev/hda" again to see the results.Here is a full list of the commands you can use in fdisk:

APT-GET & SWARET ON DIAL-UPApt-Get:These were the questions: Can these downloads be broken up into smaller chunks and downloaded in groups?What can one do to avoid a total reinstall, etc. in the event of a crash? That would be a tremendous task for someone on dialup?

Jodef, on forum, said:

Pclos synaptic saves the packages to /var/cache/apt/archives when you choose to execute in synaptic there is a small checkbox at the bottom check download package files only this d/ls package but doesn't automatically install them. If this option is not checked once the install is performed the package is deleted from that directory. You can then copy the packages from that directory and save them wherever you choose.To reinstall the packages you can just copy the packages to /var/cache/apt/archives and run synaptic just as you normally would but because the files are available locally in the designated directory it will not need to redownload the files but it will install them. At least in theory I have tested this with one or two packages but not with a whole upgrade but I think it should work the same.

A few handy commands if you use apt-get on the commandline:"apt-get -d kde" would only download the KDE packages and not yet install them so you can burn them to CD first "apt-get check" verifies that there are no broken dependencies . . ."apt-get upgrade" will only get the regular updates . . ( you get to say Y or N )"apt-get dist-upgrade" will totally upgrade your distro to the latest version"apt-get --help" for more info on apt-getSwaret:For Swaret the packages get stored in /var/swaret/sources The command "swaret --get KDE" will only download the packages and save them to /var/swaret/sources. Interrupted downloads will be checked and downloaded again, swaret performs a checksum on the packages. So if you burn the packages in /var/swaret/sources to CD you can always recover them."swaret --get kde" will only download the kde pakages"swaret --dep" will check dependencies"swaret --resume" will resume broken downloads See also the dial-up remarks in the Swaret TipB) BrunoOriginal thread: http://forums.scotsn...h...f=14&t=6057

PCLOS TWEAKS ( Preview 5 and 7 )Here is a quick few tips for fixing a couple of things after the HD install, and further down for after upgrading: After HD install 1). The fancy icons in Open Office will be gone if you create a user account, do:

( Change the hda6 to the partition the PCLos HD install is on. Also this changes the name of the .wav to TEX_Startup.wav because KDE_Startup.wav already exists, so when you go in the "notify" section of KDE Control Center, that is the file to look for. ) 2). The "/etc/apt/sources.list" will be replaced and set the default to the ibiblio mirrors . . . change it back to "nluug" for quick downloads. 3). Upgrading to Mozilla 1.6 will make that the plugins in the Konqueror browser not work anymore because it points to the Mozilla 1.5 directory. Go to preferences of konqueror and in the plugins section add:

/usr/lib/mozilla-1.6/plugins/

4). After the upgrade the entries in the KDE Control Center will be empty . . . . do this:

Texstar, on PCLos forum, said:

1. update to the latest menudrake and menu rpms from apt-get2. delete everything in the /etc/menu directory3. delete the applnk-mdk and applnk-mdk-simplified directory in .kde/share4. delete the .menu directory in home5. update-menus -v when it stops press return to get to the konsole prompt6. run menudrake and save7. check your kcontrol to make sure everything is still there.Now you should be able to edit your menus as needed and not lose kcontrol settings.

and you will get a small GUI window where you can choose from 45 different themes Other language in PCLosFor KDE you need these packages: ( Example is Dutch=nl ) locales-nl-2.3.2-5mdk.i586.rpm ( From Mandrake 9.2 CD ) kde-i18n-nl-3.2.0-2mdk.noarch.rpm ( From Mandrake 10.0 CD, because it is KDE 3.2 ) For OpenOffice: myspell-nl_NL-1.0.2-0.20030824.1mdk.i586.rpm ( From Mandrake 9.2 CD ) myspell-hyph-nl-1.0.2-0.20030824.1mdk.i586.rpm ( From Mandrake 9.2 CD ) OpenOffice.org-l10n-nl-1.1-2.92mdk.i586.rpm ( From Mandrake 9.2 CD )PS: You can download them from ftp.nluug too ;)For 9.2: ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/Man...6/Mandrake/RPMSFor 10.0: ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/Man.../Mandrake/RPMS/ Have FUN with PCLos ! Bruno

CPU INFO ( and other information on your system )We can get a lot of info from the /proc directory ( The /proc is a direct reflection of the system kept in memory )An example of the info we can get from /proc is "CPU info":

So you see there is a wealth of info you can retrieve from /proc . . . go off and explore, even if you do not understand all the info, it is good to know where you can get it ;) BrunoPS: Brian wrote us that with "lshw" ( if installed on your distro ) you can query all that /proc info and print it to your screen.Try "lshw -html >lshw.html" and you will get a nice html file in your home directory for easy viewing.

IMAGEMAGICKImageMagick is an ultra versatile tool that can manipulate images on the commandline. You will find it installed by default in most distros. Just to give you an idea what it can do, here is a few examples:import - Take a screenshot of the full desktop:

$ import -window root screenshot.png

( When the command is typed in a 'run-box' and you click on the desktop it will take the full desktop too and you won't see the open terminal where you typed the command )Takes screenshot of an open window:

$ import screenshot.png

Then click on a window.Take a screenshot of any ( detail ) part of the desktop:

$ import screenshot.png

Then make a selection with your right mouse button.A simple way to display the screenshot: ( or any other image )

$ display sceenshot.png

Now comes the real 'magic':mogrify - To transform a .png image to .jepg:

$ mogrify -format jpeg screenshot.png

To transform a whole series of .png images to .jpeg:

$ mogrify -format jpeg *.png

NOTE: Imagemagic can handle and transform all possible image formats ! ( See below )And to make a series of thumbnails:

$ mogrify -geometry 120x120 *.jpg

( Don't worry about disfiguring the image, it will take the first number and adapt the second one to it to make sure the proportions stay the same )WARNING: "mogrify" overwrites the original image, so make a backup before you start ! What else can it do? - Resize, rotate, sharpen, color reduce, or add special effects to an image - Create a montage of image thumbnails - Create a transparent image suitable for use on the Web - Turn a group of images into a GIF animation sequence - Create a composite image by combining several separate images - Draw shapes or text on an image - Decorate an image with a border or frame - Describe the format and characteristics of an imageHere are the commands you can use in Imagemagic:

Quote

display is a machine architecture independent image processing and display facility. It can display an image on any workstation display running an X server.import reads an image from any visible window on an X server and outputs it as an image file. You can capture a single window, the entire screen, or any rectangular portion of the screen.montage creates a composite by combining several separate images. The images are tiled on the composite image with the name of the image optionally appearing just below the individual tile.convert converts an input file using one image format to an output file with the same or differing image format while applying an arbitrary number of image transformations.mogrify transforms an image or a sequence of images. These transforms include image scaling, image rotation, color reduction, and others. The transmogrified image overwrites the original image.identify describes the format and characteristics of one or more image files. It will also report if an image is incomplete or corrupt.composite composites images (blends or merges images together) to create new images.compare compares an image to a reconstructed image.conjure interprets and executes scripts in the Magick Scripting Language (MSL).

SECURITY: SERVICES STARTED AT BOOT Surely you are aware that at boot a good number of services are started, most of them you will see in the bootmessages. The story is that you do not need all those that are being started, you do need most of them but you can do some weeding out of the ones you do not need and are possibly a security risk. ( It can even reduce the time it takes to boot . . however, do not expect too much here, this will only be a few seconds ) Let me first list a few services you DO need and therefore should NOT deactivate:

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apmd : Advanced Power Management Daemon atd : daemon for the at command. Runs "one-off" scheduled operations outside the cron daemon, as set by the command line. crond : provides a daemon to perform scheduled operations without user interaction daytime : provides the system's notion of the time of day echo : displays a line of text fam : the File Alteration Monitor. This server tracks changes to the filestystem, passing the information along to the appropriate application. keytable : provides the appropriate keyboard mapping partmon : monitors the contents of a partition, preventing writing : 0 byte files when the partition is full random : random number generator syslog : a system-wide logging utility xinetd : the Extended Internet Services Daemon

Now, I will take as an example, Mandrake and PCLos, because they are very similar. Most other distros have equivalent tools to shut services down and stop them from starting at boot. In Slackware it is a bit more complicated but real Slackers will find a way to get the job done anyway. So, in Drake & PCLos . . . . in the menu under "Configuration" you will find "Configure your Computer" this brings up the Master Control Center ( same as MCC in Drake ) and there under "System" you have "DrakXServices" . . this brings up a GUI with all the services running ( or not ) and there is an info button at every item . . also there is a stop-button for every service where you can temporary stop the service and see if it affects the smooth running of your system ( on a reboot it will start again if you leave the checkmark . . the trick is: Note down every change you make ! Only if you are 100% sure you take away the checkmark ! -- A few services that are running by default in PCLos and that you can safely disable are: hpoj ( If you do NOT have a HP printer ) nfs ( to comunicate with other Linux computers on a network ) nfslock ( idem ) portmap ( server stuff ) postfix smb ( if you do not run samba to comunicate with a Windows computer on the network ) swat ( also samba related, admin tool for samba ) wlan ( wireless lan config/activate etc. ) -- You DO need: alsa anacron atd crond cups devfsd dm fam gmp internet iptables ( for the firewall to work ) keytable kheader pcscd random rawdevices services slpd sound tmdns xfs xinetd That is all for today ! . . Next time we will look at Servers/services. Okay, to give a little hint to you Slackware users: to disable a service from starting at boot look in the /etc/rc.d/ directory . . they will be there, as an example, to safely prevent sendmail from starting at boot ( you do not need sendmail to send mail ) and be sure that you can put it back on if you find that you made a mistake disabling it, do: